June 27, 2017

Blu-Ray Review: THE SAVAGE INNOCENTS

From
a historical standpoint, The Savage Innocents is noteworthy
for featuring a very young Peter O'Toole in his first substantial
role, just before Lawrence of Arabia made him a superstar. He
also turns in the best performance in the film.

Additionally, there's
some beautiful imagery, the cinematography giving an almost
dreamlike quality to its Arctic locations. Aside from a few
noticeable visual artifacts early on (most notably during a seal
hunting sequence), Olive Films' video transfer is very good. The
film's underlying theme - a clash between two distinctly different
cultures - is always worth exploring. Unfortunately, The Savage
Innocents is a clumsy, schizophrenic exercise in tedium.

"I named him Zorba."

Anthony
Quinn - looking like an over-aged Monkees' reject - is Inuk, a lonely Eskimo who eventually lands an
obedient wife, Asiak, (Yoko Tani) while hunting walruses and seals.
After seeing a rifle for the first time - a friend traded for it with
white settlers - he ventures to a nearby outpost to try and get
one for himself. Unfortunately, because he doesn't understand their
customs (and vise versa), Inuk kills a local preacher who refused his
offer to spend time with Asiak. Inuk & Asiak are later pursued by
two troopers (one of whom is O'Toole).

Don't be fooled by the premise, which is indeed intriguing. Instead,
the movie rambles along for over an hour before this threadbare plot
begins to unfold. Until then, Inuk is presented as a clumsy,
dimwitted rube, played to the hilt by Quinn, who mugs and grunts like
he's the comic relief in a beach party movie. There's also some terrible voice-over
narration related to Eskimo customs, the kind you might hear in an
ancient educational documentary the Mystery Science Theater gang used
to riff.

"Oooooh! It's Commando Friday!"

The
film hasn't aged well, either. It's depiction of Eskimos may even be
considered offensive in this day and age, as demonstrated in an
embarrassing scene where Inuk & Asiak get drunk and dance
to rock & roll for the first time. The fact we're supposed to
laugh at their antics doesn't sit well.

Instead
of a culture clash, The Savage Innocents seems more interested
in sensationalizing the Eskimos' customs, presenting them as ignorant
and barbaric. As movie legends go, this is hardly Anthony Quinn's
shining moment. Nor O'Toole's, for that matter, but at least he
doesn't embarrass himself.

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About D.M. Anderson

D.M. Anderson works and lives in Portland Oregon. He is the author of two young adult novels (Killer Cows & Shaken) and a collection of dark tales (With the Wicked). He has also published several short stories which have appeared (or will appear) in various anthologies and magazines such as 69 Flavors of Paranoia, Night Terrors, Trembles, Encounters, Implosion, Strange Fucking Stories, Perpetual Motion Machine. He documents his adventures in the dark onon his movie site, Free Kittens Movie Guide.